Tag Archives: environmental

The 2012 Democratic National Convention Platform calls for the United States to create 80% of its electricity through solar and other renewable energy sources by 2035. According the DNC report 225,000 jobs have already been created in the green energy economy. In his acceptance speech earlier this week in Charlotte, North Carolina President Obama said,”Climate change is not a hoax.“While environmentalist have been consistent in their criticism of the Obama administrations’ lack of actions on climate change the federal governments efforts on stimulating the solar industry in California is quite visible.

Obama has called climate claim deniers and detractors members of “the flat earth society” while California and other states such Arizona, New Jersey, Colorado, North Carolina and New York have taken a leading role the solar energy revolution. California for example implemented Assembly Bill 32 which was passed and championed by then Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger. AB 32 calls for 33% of California’s energy to be produced by solar and other renewable energy sources by 2020.

Analysts and politicians would lead you to believe that our economic outlook is still souring, however they aren’t telling the whole story because of their own agendas. The global economic outlook is actually positive, with manufacturing steadily on the rise, unemployment down and the crisis in Europe will undoubtedly experience easing through stimulus efforts.Add that to the fact that the value ratio of gold to silver is completely out of whack right now, and you have a winning recipe for silver to respond bullishly, and a potential wealth creation for investors of the precious metals market. Stephen M Smith who is the managing member at Smith McKennahas been accurately predicting macroeconomic trends and following the precious metals market for over two decades. Smith firmly believes that silver is going to emerge as the leader in the next few years, potentially making a lot of people very wealthy.

It’s the perfect time to invest in silver. Mostly because its current mid $20s spot price is attractively affordable for first time investors, creating low barriers to entry and risk, but also because if we can count on history repeating itself like it always does, silver will close the roughly 58 to 1 ratio gap to gold, being underpriced, to a more common and predictable say 30 to 1. The key however is to own the physical asset, rather than derivatives, futures and ETF’s.

Most people put off learning how to invest in silver and other precious metals due to fear or uncertainty, but really they should be a part of anyone’s investment portfolio because of diversification, investment quality, and as a hedge against inflation. Commodities are not infinite in supply, and silver is largely tied to its industrial demand and applications. Silver is a necessity metal and is used in all kinds of electronic, pharma, andsolar panel production. Above ground supply of silver is limited, only up just over 1% last year according to The Silver Institute, and with global production of these products not slowing down it’s likely going to create scarcity; driving the price of silver due north.

Two nights ago, The California Secretary of State’s office announced that the Right to Know initiativeto label genetically engineered foods will be on the state’s November ballot. The historic initiative would be the first law in the United States requiring labeling of a wide range of genetically engineered foods.“We’re thrilled that Californians will have the opportunity this November to vote for the right to know what’s in our food,” said Stacy Malkan, a spokesperson for the California Right to Know campaign. “This initiative is pretty simple. It’s about our fundamental right to make informed choices about the food we eat and feed our families.”The initiative requires labeling ofgenetically modified organisms (GMOs), which are plants or meats that have had their DNA artificially altered by genes from other plants, animals, viruses, or bacteria, in order to produce foreign compounds in that food. Nine out of ten voters in the U.S. and in California back labeling, according to recent polls (see Mellman 2012, Reuters 2010, Zogby 2012). An April poll by San Francisco TV station KCBS found 91% backed labeling.

The California Right to Know initiative is backed by a broad array of consumer, health and environmental groups, businesses and farmers. Major endorsers include Public Citizen, Sierra Club, American Public Health Association, United Farm Workers, California Certified Organic Farmers, Organic Consumers Association, Consumer Federation of America, Nature’s Path, Lundberg Family Farms, Organic Valley, Dr. Bronner’s, Eden Foods, Mercola.com, Center for Food Safety, Food Democracy Now! and the California State Grange. Grant Lundberg, CEO of Lundberg Family Farms in the Sacramento Valley, noted that the United States stands out as one of the few developed nations that does not provide consumers with simple labels to inform them if their food has been genetically engineered. “More than 40 other countries — including all of Europe, Japan and even China — already label genetically engineered food. Californians deserve to be able to make informed choices too,” Lundberg said.

In March, more than one million people submitted comments to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration on a petition for mandatory labeling of genetically engineered foods, more than any other petition in FDA history. Twenty states have tried to legislate GMO labeling, but none have succeeded due to intense opposition from corporate special interests.“All eyes are on California, and the voters of this state will support our right to know what’s in our food when they vote this November,” said Stacy Malkan from the Right to Know campaign.

The ongoing struggle for lions to exist against the twin threats of poaching and a diminishing habitation has been brought to international attention through two films – The Last Lions and African Cats. The Last Lions is a National Geographic production which addresses the sobering statistic that there are roughly only 20,000 lions left in the wild in Africa. To put this into perspective, 50 years ago the numbers were close to 500,000,so today’s figure of 20,000 represents a horrifying drop in numbers of approximately 96% – the main cause of the decline in numbers being due to poaching activity. Filmmakers Dereck and Beverly Joubert are passionate on the subject and set out a very strong case to have lions protected by governmental and international accords in the same way that other endangered species such as the elephant are protected. The couple cite the fact that the eco-tourism industry benefits to the tune of billions of pounds each year which should bring with it the moral and financial imperative to protect the animals that tourists want and expect to see.

The Disney nature production African Catsis a sympathetic portrayal of the difficulties facing lions and other big cats and serves to raise awareness of the subject to a wider audience – especially among children (the film carries a U certificate). Both films underline the necessity and the urgency of the work currently being carried out at thePorini Camps in Kenya. Porini safari camps are at the spearhead of the conservation of wildlife. Interaction with local communities is crucial to their success. Porini lease farmland from the Maasai tribes in Kenya and allow the vegetation to recover from over grazing and farming and to become restored as part of the lions’ wider natural habitat. It’s a business model that benefits all parties. The Maasai are employed as wardens and guides as an alternative to farming: Porini safaris benefit from their wealth of local knowledge and tracking skills and the wildlife benefits as poaching is no longer financially attractive because the average wage earned at the camp is 5 times the national average.

Restoring land to its natural state is just part of the conservation work Porini is committed to. Visitors to the camps wanting to contribute to the safeguarding of the area and its wildlife for the future have the unique opportunity of some hands on conservation work.

Sol, Inc., the leading provider of solar and LED outdoor lighting solutions, has announce they have partnered with Chip Ganassi Racing Teams, Inc to lead the way for increased energy conservation in the racing industry by upgrading the team’s outdoor lighting at both their Indianapolis and Concord, NC race shops to much more energy-efficientsolarand LED lighting. The solar lights produce no pollution, cause no harmful environmental effects, and require no grid electricity to operate. The grid-connected lights use up to 75% less energy when replacing traditional lighting sources. “We are always looking for opportunities to push the envelope on environmental efforts and this partnership with Sol does just that,” said Steve Lauletta, President, Chip Ganassi Racing Teams. “Being able to partner with Sol and utilize their expertise in solar lighting technology is something we feel very good about. We look forward to a long partnership with Sol.”

By replacing conventionalsodium vapor and metal halide light sources with Sol’s high-performance 20/20 solar and grid-tie LED lights, the Chip Ganassi facilities have lights that are much brighter, will last longer, and are providing significant energy savings while improving visibility in the parking lots for visitors and staff.

“First, I would like to congratulate Chip Ganassi and his teams for the big win this weekend in the Indianapolis 500. We couldn’t be more proud to be partnering with their organization,” said Paul Wickberg, CEO and President, Sol, Inc. “Chip Ganassi Racing is demonstrating their commitment through the installation of solar technology at their shops and is leading the way in showing visitors and employees how sustainable technologies like Sol’s solar lights can make economic sense while providing equal or superior performance to traditional, energy-intensive lighting technologies. We are also very pleased with the strides the racing industry is making with a more concerted effort on promoting sustainable products. Both NASCAR and INDYCAR seem to be working hard on green initiatives – whether it’s NASCAR’s new relationship with the EPA or INDYCAR being a long-time advocate of Ethanol in their cars. Our hope is that the racing industry will see this as an example of technologies that can be used at tracks and other racing facilities around the world.”

By Annie Carmichael We won! Thanks to the 60,000 of you who showed support for net metering, California will continue to be increasingly powered by the sun.

Yesterday, the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC)unanimously voted to give more Californians access to net metering credit for solar power. The 5-0 vote will protect this important solar consumer right for tens of thousands of California homes, schools, businesses and public buildings.Net metering makes sure solar customers get fair credit on their utility bills for the valuable clean power they put on the grid for others to use (watch this video to see how net metering works). This important solar policy has already delivered tremendous benefits to California: supported 25,000 solar jobs, driven $10 billion in private investment in the state’s clean energy industry, given thousands of homeowners, schools, water districts, industrial users, and cities control over their electricity bills, and installed 2 natural gas plants worth of valuable peak solar power generation that our utilities won’t have to build and you won’t have to fund.

There is still work to be done to iron out the details of the long-term net metering program so that solar can continue to shine – and we hope you’ll continue to help us along the way.